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The Ajanta Caves अजिंठा लेणी in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 CE. (wikipedia)
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The Ajanta Caves from afar. Truly incredible, I can't imagine the amount of work put into it. Somewhere that everyone should go, art lovers, architects, and just tourists alike.
Thanks to hpioski, Planetmonkeys, MiriamW77, and SNAPDECISIONS ! for the favorite! :)
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The Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are 29 rock-cut cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE. The caves include paintings and sculptures considered to be masterpieces of Buddhist religious art (which depict the Jataka tales as well as frescos which are reminiscent of the Sigiriya paintings in Sri Lanka.
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I first read of the ajanta caves in history class when I was 14 and decided I need to visit them one day. I'm finally here 13 years later. amazing.
entrance costs INR 250. I had some USD from carlos just in case but turns out they only accept INR. best to wear footwear that's easy to remove as footwear is not allowed in most of the caves.
from maharashtra tourism development corp. web site -
the thirty rock-hewn caves at ajanta, cut into the scarp of a cliff are either chaityas (chapels) or viharas (monasteries). on the walls of the caves are paintings, many still glowing with their original colours. the outer walls are covered with brilliantly executed sculpture. the buddhist theme of the ajanta paintings recounts the life of lord buddha and tales of his previous earthly experiences.
entry fee: INR 5 (indians)/ USD 5 (foreigners)
timings: 0900 hrs to 1730 hrs (or sunset)
closed on mondays
ajanta caves
maharashtra, india
The Ajanta Caves are 30 (approximately) rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state of India. The caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotions through gesture, pose and form.
According to UNESCO, these are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art that influenced the Indian art that followed. The caves were built in two phases, the first phase starting around the 2nd century BCE, while the second phase was built around 400–650 CE, according to older accounts, or in a brief period of 460–480 CE according to later scholarship. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and worship-halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-metre (246 ft) wall of rock.The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura's Jatakamala, and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities.Textual records suggest that these caves served as a monsoon retreat for monks, as well as a resting site for merchants and pilgrims in ancient India. While vivid colours and mural wall-painting were abundant in Indian history as evidenced by historical records, Caves 16, 17, 1 and 2 of Ajanta form the largest corpus of surviving ancient Indian wall-painting.
The Ajanta Caves are mentioned in the memoirs of several medieval-era Chinese Buddhist travellers to India and by a Mughal-era official of Akbar era in the early 17th century. They were covered by jungle until accidentally "discovered" and brought to Western attention in 1819 by a colonial British officer Captain John Smith on a tiger-hunting party. The caves are in the rocky northern wall of the U-shaped gorge of the river Waghur, in the Deccan plateau. Within the gorge are a number of waterfalls, audible from outside the caves when the river is high.
With the Ellora Caves, Ajanta is one of the major tourist attractions of Maharashtra. It is about 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) from Fardapur, 59 kilometres (37 miles) from the city of Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India, 104 kilometres (65 miles) from the city of Aurangabad, and 350 kilometres (220 miles) east-northeast of Mumbai. Ajanta is 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu, Jain and Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta style is also found in the Ellora Caves and other sites such as the Elephanta Caves, Aurangabad Caves, Shivleni Caves and the cave temples of Karnataka.
MLY WDM-3A 16658R leads the twin charge on the curve for 17064 Secunderabad - Manmad Ajanta Express...
The Ajanta Caves are 30 (approximately) rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state of India. The caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotions through gesture, pose and form.
According to UNESCO, these are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art that influenced the Indian art that followed. The caves were built in two phases, the first phase starting around the 2nd century BCE, while the second phase was built around 400–650 CE, according to older accounts, or in a brief period of 460–480 CE according to later scholarship. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and worship-halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-metre (246 ft) wall of rock.The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura's Jatakamala, and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities.Textual records suggest that these caves served as a monsoon retreat for monks, as well as a resting site for merchants and pilgrims in ancient India. While vivid colours and mural wall-painting were abundant in Indian history as evidenced by historical records, Caves 16, 17, 1 and 2 of Ajanta form the largest corpus of surviving ancient Indian wall-painting.
The Ajanta Caves are mentioned in the memoirs of several medieval-era Chinese Buddhist travellers to India and by a Mughal-era official of Akbar era in the early 17th century. They were covered by jungle until accidentally "discovered" and brought to Western attention in 1819 by a colonial British officer Captain John Smith on a tiger-hunting party. The caves are in the rocky northern wall of the U-shaped gorge of the river Waghur, in the Deccan plateau. Within the gorge are a number of waterfalls, audible from outside the caves when the river is high.
With the Ellora Caves, Ajanta is one of the major tourist attractions of Maharashtra. It is about 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) from Fardapur, 59 kilometres (37 miles) from the city of Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India, 104 kilometres (65 miles) from the city of Aurangabad, and 350 kilometres (220 miles) east-northeast of Mumbai. Ajanta is 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu, Jain and Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta style is also found in the Ellora Caves and other sites such as the Elephanta Caves, Aurangabad Caves, Shivleni Caves and the cave temples of Karnataka.
Ajanta caves depicting life of Buddha, were built from 2nd Century BC to A.D. 6-7th Century. One of the finest example of Rock-cut Architecture and wall paintings, its a World Heritage Monument of India.
The Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are 29 rock-cut cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE. The caves include paintings and sculptures considered to be masterpieces of Buddhist religious art (which depict the Jataka tales as well as frescos which are reminiscent of the Sigiriya paintings in Sri Lanka.
The Ajanta Caves are 29 rock-cut cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE. The caves include paintings and sculptures considered to be masterpieces of both Buddhist religious art (which depict the Jataka tales) as well as frescos which are reminiscent of the Sigiriya paintings in Sri Lanka. The caves were built in two phases starting around 200 BCE, with the second group of caves built around 600 CE. -Wikipedia
The Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are about 300 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 CE. Rajesh Kumar Singh in The Early Development of the Cave 26-Complex at Ajanta (South Asian Studies, Volume 28, Issue 1, 2012, DOI:10.1080/02666030.2012.659906) writes, "Ajanta's Cave 26-complex seems to hold a special position in the history of Indian rock-cut architecture for many reasons. It was the largest and most elaborate caityagha-complex in its time. It transformed Ajanta from just another saghārāma of Buddhist India to a catalytic force that engineered the rejuvenation of Indian rock-cut architecture in general and the renaissance of Ajanta in particular."
MLY WDM-3A 14045 chugs hard leading the twin charge for 17064 Secunderabad - Manmad Ajanta Express....
Ajanta Caves - pianting on the wall. The paintings are mainly found on the walls, ceilings and pillars. These paintings have now erroded due to decay and human interference. Most of the paintings narrate / depict stories from the Jataka tales.This kind of artwork is called mural paintings. The rock surfaces were first chiselled to make them rough to hold the paster applied on them. The plaster was generally made of clay, hay, dung and lime. The colors used to paint are generally known as 'earth colors' or 'vegetable colors.' Various kinds of stones, minerals, and plants were used in combinations to prepare different colors. One can only stand in front of these and admire the talent that people in those early days of human civilization.